WRAP to look again at quality of material from MRFs

The group is fully cross-sectoral and there are three meetings planned in the period up to the end of March next year

 
Ray Georgeson, Resource Futures

When the first Environment-Agency-led group looked at this topic, back in 2004, Mr Georgeson was employed by the Waste & Resources Action Programme as director of policy. He left WRAP earlier this year but now returns in a consultancy role to have another go at trying to gather some agreement within the sector.

Mr Georgeson, who now works for Bristol-based consultancy Resource Futures among other clients, will chair meetings in early 2009 which will aim to address the perceived gap between reprocessor requirements and the quality of materials achieved by some facilities. The issue has become something of a cause celebre for WRAP which has had a number of meetings with supporters of kerbside sorting as well as some with operators of materials recycling facilities (MRFs).

The move to resurrect the committee comes three years after Mr Georgeson chaired the somewhat acrimonious first round of meetings when he was working for WRAP, looking at the quality of material coming out of MRFs for export, with a particular focus on recovered paper (see letsrecycle.com story). The decision to revisit the issue with the same chairman has already raised concerns from some in the sector that it may simply go over old ground.

Mr Georgeson is now one of several ex-WRAP employees working for Resource Futures, including the organisation's former composting and research expert Dr Julian Parfitt and marketing chief Fridey Cordingley.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Georgeson said: “I am a non-executive director of Resource Futures and I have been asked by them to chair a new multi-stakeholder steering group as part of a project they have been commissioned to deliver by WRAP as part of their MRF work.”

“The group is fully cross-sectoral and there are three meetings planned in the period up to the end of March next year,” he added.

Details of the meeting are being kept confidential because of the sensitive nature of the topic.

However, the first meeting is scheduled for January 8 and is likely to include representatives from bodies including: Novelis, CIWM, Aylesford, IWPPA, Recoup, Greenstar, Corus, Bryson Recycling, SEPA, LARAC, SCA Paper, Environment Agency, Environmental Services Association, CYLCH, SITA, Shanks, Veolia, Viridor, CPI,  Cutts Bros, NAWDO, British Glass, Recresco and the Greater London Assembly.

The issue of MRF quality has already caused tension in the waste and recycling sector, with CYLCH and the reprocessor-backed Campaign for Real Recycling lobbying for more source-separated recycling collections in a bid to improve material quality, while many waste management companies and councils advocate the use of a variety of collection systems.

Paul Levett, deputy chief executive of Veolia Environmental Services in the UK and a member of the new steering group, welcomed the initiative.

He said: “The composition of MRF input materials continues to change as councils increase the range and penetration of recyclate collections. As a result, MRFs need to evolve to ensure that the quality of output materials matches customer and regulatory requirements. We therefore welcome WRAPs latest initiative in this area.”